Living Nightmare
by nebula2
Summary: The events of the movie from Scott's POV.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This story was inspired by the Thunderbirds movie and my own story Longest Day. For those of you who didn't read it, Longest Day took you through the events of the movie from Virgil's POV. If you want to read it let me know, and I'll give you the link to where its posted. Living Nightmare is the movie through Scott's POV. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: not mine. Just borrowing

* * *

As I woke up, I became aware of my aching body. Why was I so sore? As my mind woke up more, I remembered why. Yesterday had been anything but normal. After the ordeal up in the station and running around in London, it was no surprise that I was sore. Still, as bad as it had been for me John had been through worse.

John!

I wondered if Dad had gotten home with him or not. Ignoring my aching muscles, I went to get up, almost falling off the couch in the process. I forgot I had fallen asleep downstairs. On the other couch, Gordon still slept. I didn't see Virgil anywhere. Evidently he had made his way to his own room before falling asleep.

The sun was starting to come up, and I walked across the room in the grey light of the early morning. I walked stiffly up the steps and down the hall to John's room. Having a masseuse around would have been nice right about now.

The door to John's room was open. Looking inside, I saw that John was indeed in the bed. Sitting in the desk chair next to the bed sat my father. He was in sweat pants and a T-shirt and had obviously showered. I saw him yawning as I came inside. He probably hadn't been asleep yet.

"Dad, how is he?"

My father looked up.

"I thought you were sleeping?"

"I was," I replied. "How is he?"

Dad sighed. "Concussion. Third degree burns to his right hand. The right shoulder has damage to both the ligaments and the muscles but he shouldn't need surgery," he told me, easily repeating what he had been told. "Dammit Scott, I could have lost him. I knew how bad he was hurt up on the station but I forgot all about it in London."

"We all did, Dad," I said, knowing how guilty his felt. It was the same guilt I felt. We'd gotten so wrapped up in the events that we had forgotten about John being hurt. If Virgil hadn't . . .

My father reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Dad, go get some sleep. I'll stay here with John," I told him.

"Sleep sounds good," he admitted. "Mark doesn't want him asleep for more than two hours. If you have to, wake him up. Make sure he knows who he is and where he is. It hasn't been a problem yet, he's been drifting in and out all night," he looked at the clock on the desk. "He was awake about an hour ago."

"Okay," I told replied as he stood up. I could see him hesitating. It didn't surprise me none. John had a special relationship with our father. I knew Dad talked to John about things he never talked to any of the rest of us about. Often asked his advice. A relationship that I often envied. "I'll take care of him, Dad." I told him resting a hand on his arm.

He looked over at me and nodded. "I know you will, Scott." he told me, clasping my shoulder. A few moments later, he left the room. Alone with my sleeping brother, I sat down in the chair my Dad had vacated. Yesterday had been such a nightmare . . .

I was sitting at the table with my lap top watching The Last Samurai. Gordon was sitting at the counter chatting with Onaha. I had tuned them out awhile ago. Things were quiet right now and I was enjoying it. Now that Alan was home for the summer there were no guarantees that we would have many quiet times on the island.

Suddenly, the alert sounded. Reflexively, I put the computer on the table and sprang to my feet sprinting toward the steps leading upstairs. Gordon wasn't far ahead of me and as we reached the steps Dad was only about halfway up them.

The three of us hurried to my Dad's office. As we reached it, Virgil hurried from the other direction.

"How bad Brains?" Dad asked walking into the office that had already been changed into IR's Command and Control.

"Thunderbird 5. Major damage sustained. Possible mm-mm-mm– Possible stike by a mm–"

"Meteor."

"Yep," Brains replied as my brother's and I headed toward the lifts.

My thoughts were instantly on my brother John. Two years younger than me, John was by far the quietest and most level-headed of the five of us. John had always looked up to me, though looking back now I often wondered why. Growing up, I had probably gotten him into more trouble than he had bailed me out of and there were times that I resented him tagging along when I was with my friends. Despite that though, I had always tried to protect him from things. This was one of those times when I hadn't been able to. I said a prayer, hoping he was still alive.

"Thunderbirds are go," my father said as he stepped into the lift beside me.

It wasn't long before we were boarding Thunderbird 3. Gordon instinctively headed toward the pilot's seat, Thunderbird 3 being his primary craft. Still ahead of me, Virgil headed for the co-pilot seat. Though part of me wanted to argue the point, I knew now wasn't the time. John needed us and Virgil was just as capable of flying Thunderbird 3 as I was. As Dad took the middle seat, I took the passenger seat in the back closest to the hatch.

Hurrying through pre-flight procedures, Thunderbird 3 was soon headed upwards to Thunderbird 5. Brains had said there was major damage. What part of the station had been damaged though? What systems were still online? How bad was John hurt? Other than the Mayday, no transmission had been received from the station. Would we be in time? Was it already to late?

"_Hold on John_," I whispered softly under my breath.

John and I were like night and day. I had hated school and John had brought home A's without batting an eye. I was outgoing and John had always been shy. When we were young, painfully so. As a result, the kids at school had picked him as an easy target, though they soon found they had me to deal with too. Where as John thought things through, I was full speed ahead. John had an infinite amount of patience and I had very little. It was probably why he could sit for hours with a fishing pole in hand, waiting for a bit while I was screaming at the fish to bit already. I had loved flying since as far back as I could remember. John on the other hand had once been afraid of flying. Dad's passion for International Rescue and John's desire to be a part of it had forced him to face that fear.

John had grown up far faster than he should have. Following our mother's death, I had turned my back on everything, falling in with a bad group of kids. I had gotten into trouble with the law, failed classes and got myself kicked off the baseball team. All the while, John had been trying to hold things together at home. Tried to take care of our three little brothers as Dad had gotten wrapped up with work trying to forget his grief. As the oldest, that should have been my responsibility. I should have looked out for Alan, Gordon and Virgil as well as John. Instead, John had taken on the burden making personal sacrifices. On top of that, he had tried keeping me from getting into major trouble and I hadn't made it easy on him.

Once I had gotten my head on straight, I vowed that I'd make it up to him. To this day, I hadn't felt as though I did. I'd give my life for any of my brothers in a heartbeat, but I still felt a special bond with John.

A voice over the radio brought me out of my thoughts."I'm losing all power. Repeat– I'm losing all power."

It was John! He was alive. I could hear the fear and pain in his voice though. I knew we had to get to him quickly.

"Hold on, John! We're coming in!" Dad told him. "Gordon prepare for immediate docking."

I found myself tapping my foot as my brothers went through the steps to dock Thunderbird3 with Thunderbird5. I hated sitting here, feeling helpless. I wanted to already be on that station.

"We're locked on," Gordon announced, already undoing his harness. I had mine off as well and was standing at the hatch, checking to make sure everything was as it should be.

"Nice work."

"Docking sequence complete."

"Tunnel hatch secure!," I announced glancing at my father momentarily. As soon as the words were out I turned to grab one of the emergency packs.

"Emergency packs, boys! Let's move!" Dad said even as he grabbed his own pack and headed through the now opened hatchway. I followed him through the tunnel and onto Thunderbird 5.

The station was a mess. Debris lay everywhere. Several fires had broken out and electricity sparked from damaged wires and computers. Damn! John is lucky to be alive, I thought to myself even as I caught site of my brother. He didn't look like he was in much better shape than his bird, though he was trying to sit up.

"John!" Dad exclaimed in front of me heading toward him. "Scott, tackle that fire," Dad commanded pointing at the largest of the fires.

As much as I wanted to go to John's side, I knew I couldn't. I had a job to do. I was going to have to leave John in the care of my family members.

Grabbing the nearest fire extinguisher I headed toward the fire my Dad had indicated. I was vaguely aware of the others around me as they did there jobs. I saw Virgil with John. Part of me wanted to switch places with him even though I knew I was doing as much to help him as Virgil was. Getting the fires out meant that the environmental systems would have an easier time clearing out the smoke.

With my Dad's help we soon had the fires out, thought every now and then electricity sparked from damaged wires. Fixing them was going to take much longer and weren't our first priority. First, we needed to find out exactly how bad the damage was. As Dad went to John's side again, I joined Gordon at the control system as he was trying to get a complete damage assessment.

As I approached one of the panels, I notice a light blinking. "We got a constant warning light on our E.PS. System!" I announced to my Dad.

"Attempt manual override!"

I hurried over to the main panel, getting to it before Gordon could. "No! That's negative!" I told him as nothing happened. I could hear the panic it my own voice. _Get a grip_, I told myself. I knew my brothers took their cues from me. If I started panicking, then so would they.

Dad was soon standing beside me, checking things out for himself. I could see the concern on his face. See that he was thinking the same thing I was. Someone from the island was trying to send us a warning. This hadn't been a simple meteor strike. It had been a deliberate attack.

"Back to Thunderbird 3 now," Dad ordered turning away from the panel. "John, got to move," I heard him tell my brother as he knelt down to help, John to his feet. I followed Gordon to the airlock. As he reached the airlock though, nothing happened.

"The locking mechanism jammed," he announced turning around.

This wasn't good. Right now we were trapped on the station and we had no clue what was going on down at the island. I turned to look at my father, once in my life glad that I wasn't in charge.

Suddenly the view screen came to life. A bald guy in red appeared on it.

"Attention, Thunderbird 5. As you can see, I have taken over your facilities. You no longer control your operational systems.

I started forward. Dad left John's side and walked toward the view screen himself, as the temperature on board the station started to rise. I had many of times felt as if I was trapped on Thunderbird 5 during my rotation. Cut of from everyone else. This time we really were trapped on the station and I wasn't alone.

As the Hood laid out his plans, I could feel anger rising. Who the hell did he think he was? How dare he think he could just get away with that? Use what my dad created for good to carry out his evil plans.

"You'll never get away with it!" I told him.

"Why the Thunderbird?" my dad asked, seeming much more calm then I felt. How could he be so calm?

"An eye for an eye, Mr. Tracy.

"An eye for an eye.?"

"Perhaps you've forgotten me, but surely you remember saving the life of my brother, Kyrano." Soon, Kyrano was in the view of our screen.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tracy. I thought he was dead."

We heard the Hood laugh. "Take them away," he commanded. In the background, a 'yes sir' could be heard. "You left me to die that day," he continued. "You may have broken my body but you've no idea how powerful my mind has become. Now you will suffer, as I suffered . . . waiting for a rescue that will never come."

Suddenly the screen went black. "Wait!" my Dad said even as the picture of his office disappeared. Around us, the few systems that were working started shutting down. "Scott status report."

Without hesitation I turned and looked at the control panel. "CO2 levels are rising," I told him.

"All right. Wire the oxygen scrubber to the emergency batteries. Clean the air."

I nodded and went to get the tools I was going to need.

"How long will that give us?" I heard Virgil asked.

I tuned out the reply. I didn't want to know. I already felt like we had a death sentence. Knowing how long that death sentence was didn't really appeal to me.

"Want some help?" Gordon asked me.

I looked over at him. I could tell he wanted something to do. Something to keep him from thinking about the inevitable.

"Yeah, I could use some help," I told him, knowing that was the answer he wanted hear. Besides it might end up being the last thing I ever did with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Shadowwolf919, criminally charmed, Boleyn, and montogma - thank-you all for taking the time to leave a review. Its nice to know people are enjoying the story and not just glancing at it. Hope you enjoy this next chapter.

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I handed Gordon the tool in my hand as he held out the next tool that I had asked for. Wiring the oxygen scrubber to the emergency battery pack was going well, even though it was taken me longer than I had anticipated. Part of me was wondering why we were even bothering. We were still going to be working on borrowed time and unfortunately there wasn't much we could do from up here. I never had liked this station. It was ironic that it was about to become my tomb.

Virgil had left the command deck. I had heard Dad ask him to check for other possible damage. Frankly, I think Dad was just trying to keep us all busy. The place was a mess. The only thing functioning were the emergency batteries. We had no control over any of the systems thanks to the Hood taking control of the computers from the island. Not to mention, if he had taken over Command and Control what had happened to the others? We had seen Brains, Kryano and Onaha briefly on the screen. It hadn't looked like any of them were hurt. Was that still the case? Then there were the kids. What had happened to them? Had the Hood found them?

Wiping sweat from my forehead, I went back to my assigned task. If Dad wanted this done, then I was bound and determined to do it. As I ducked back down over my work, I noticed Dad hovering by the consoles. John was nearby sitting in the chair. I knew my brother needed off of this station. Needed proper medical attention. I also knew that right now we could do nothing about that. Just like we could do nothing to help those down on the island. I felt helpless and that was the one feeling I hated the most.

"Is there really any point to this?" I heard Gordon ask softly.

I didn't bother looking up. I didn't want my eyes to give away how I really felt. "This could just buy us the time we need to figure something out," I replied, trying to sound confident as I switched the tool in my hand for the ratchet I had sitting on the deck next to me. As I tired to tighten one of the connections on the oxygen scrubber, I didn't bother to look up to see if Gordon believed me or not.

"How's it going?" I heard my father ask.

"Just finishing up," I told him. The connection I was tightening was the last one. Gordon handed me the tool box and I started putting the few tools I had with me in the pit away. Suddenly a new alarm started going off.

Dad turned around toward the main console. I looked around wondering what could possibly go wrong now. I picked up the toolbox to set it on the edge of the pit, when an explosion went off nearby. I was aware of Gordon throwing himself to the deck, even as I started to duck myself. Debris were flying past me. Smoke filled the air once again.

"Scott! Gordon! You all right?" I heard my Dad asking even as I started picking myself up off the deck. I was coughing from the smoke in the air.

"We're okay!" Gordon answered for us before I had the chance to. My brother was once again kneeling beside the edge of the pit and was looking in my direction. I took a hold of the hand Gordon was holding out to me even as Dad joined him.

"The heat exchanger's blown!" I said, still coughing from the smoke as the helped me climb out of the pit.

"You don't say," Dad said lightly a small smile on his face. I wasn't sure what he could possibly find amusing about any of this.

"Everyone okay?"

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Virgil hurrying onto the command deck.

"I think we're all okay," Dad answered looking at me and then Gordon. I nodded and Dad turned back to the front of the command deck. John was in the process of getting to his feet. "John?" Dad asked even as he started forward.

"Yeah, I'm as fine as I was before," John replied. His voice betrayed the obvious pain he was in. This second explosion couldn't have helped his condition any.

At his side now, Dad said something to him as he helped my brother back into the chair he had been sitting in before. Looking from the two of them, I looked to my left at my other two brothers. Virgil and Gordon were looking at one another. I knew their thoughts were mirroring my own.

"We're all going to get through this," I told them. I was trying to reassure myself as much as I was trying to reassure them. They both looked in my direction. No matter what, I was the oldest. I knew they would both be looking toward me for guidance. For reassurance. I just hoped it was in me to give it.

"Okay boys. Let's see exactly what damage this latest explosion has caused," Dad told us.

Once again, it was a task that I didn't see much point in. Still, it gave us something to do. Something to dwell on other than our impending death.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up to see both Gordon and Dad looking down at me. I was sitting on the floor with the panels to the environmental controls off. It had been Gordon who asked the question though Dad looked just as curious.

"Seeing if I can't rewire this thing and make something work," I said with a shrug. "I sure can't make anything worse."

Before either of them could say anything, another familiar voice filled the air. "Dad!"

"It's Alan," John called from his spot at the main console. While I had been monkeying around with environmental systems, John had been trying to bypass the lock the computers down on Tracy Island had on our systems.

Getting to my feet and following Dad and Gordon, I hurried to where John was. I was the last one to reach them. Standing behind Dad and Gordon, I looked over both of their shoulders. Alan's face was on the screen

"Alan! Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I'm at the satellite relay station with Fermat and Tintin," Alan replied. For the first time since this had all started, I found myself smiling. The little twerp was okay. "Fermat's gonna hack into the main computer system and give control of Thunderbird 5 back to you."

"We're standing by," Dad told him.

Could Fermat really do it? Was it going to be that simple? Suddenly we had a ray of hope to snag on to.

"Alan, what's happening?" Dad asked as the static started to creep onto the screen. It looked like we were losing the connection with him.

"Hang in there Dad. One more minute, okay?" Alan kept looking away. I figured he was talking to either Fermat or Tintin. Then he looked back toward the screen. I could see the panic on his face. "Dad, can you hear me? They're jamming this signal. We're gonna lose you. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."

_Yeah right_, I thought. _Alan was better at causing trouble than getting out of it. _

"That's a negative. It's too dangerous. Follow emergency procedure. Wait for Lady Penelope at the rendezvous point. Alan can your read me? Alan, we're losing you," Dad told him as the image started breaking up more. "Alan!"

With that, the screen went blank. We had lost the signal. Did that mean Alan and the other two were in danger? The signal had to have been jammed by the Hood again. Would he be able to pinpoint Alan's location? My bet was the answer was yet. The Hood had already shown himself to be very resourceful.

"Well," Dad said softly. I glanced at him. The worry that I felt was mirrored on his face.

"Do you think he'll listen? Do you think he'll go to the rendezvous point?" I asked, not really needing the questions answered but feeling the need to say something.

"No," John answered from his seat. I glanced down at him. I could see he was thinking along the same lines as I was before he even continued. " He's going to try and help us on his own," John finished.

Dad nodded. "I just hope he doesn't get himself killed in the process."

_That makes two of us_, I thought to myself. How long could those three stay ahead of the Hood? How did Alan possibly think he could save us himself? He couldn't even do a chemistry experiment on his own without causing a mess. Our luck, Alan would manage to blow up our base. Of course, if we didn't get off this tin can it wouldn't really matter if he did.

Nothing better to do, I wandered back over to where I was at before the call. Even if I wasn't really doing anything, I didn't want to just stand around. Tinkering with the environmental system at least occupied my hands even if there wasn't much chance of getting anything to work.

"Hoo! Somebody roll down a window, it's gettin' a little hot in here," Dad commented once again trying to lighten the mood. I was still trying to figure out how he could be so calm through all of this.

"Reentry into Earth's atmosphere in 37 minutes," Virgil reported. I looked up to see him standing by one of the display's. I don't know why, but the simple statement made me mad.

"Oxygen's out at 30, so we won't feel a thing," I told him, glancing at my wrist comm. I could tell by the look on Virgil's face that he wanted to come after me. I tensed up, waiting for just that to happen.

"Stop it!" Dad told us looking in my direction and then at Virgil.

"Come on, Dad. The situation's hopeless."

"No, it's not," Dad answered, looking down at Gordon who was in front of where Dad was standing. "There's still time. We've got people on the ground working for us."

"Alan? He's just a kid," Gordon replied voicing my thoughts exactly. Funny thing was, it hadn't been long ago I had been thinking that about Gordon.

"He's a Tracy," Dad told him, holding Gordon's gaze until Gordon finally looked down.

Looking from them, I looked over at Virgil. I didn't know why I had gotten mad at him. Virgil had only been stating facts. Informing us on where we stood. I sent a silent apology to him. Being mad at my brother was not how I wanted to spend the last moments with him.

Virgil nodded. I knew he felt the same way I did. Looking away from him, I looked back at the controls in front of me. Was there any possible way to get something working? Probably not. Brains and John would probably strangle me when they saw the mess I making out of this thing. That of course was assuming that any of us survived this.

I looked away from the systems in front of me and over at John. Beneath the soot, I could tell his skin was pale. Pain etched his features. Blood and soot darkened his hair. Part of me wanted to go and be with him. Give him some support. The other part of me felt guilty because there wasn't anything I could do to help him.

"I'm sorry Johnny," I said softy to myself as I looked away. Once again, I felt as though I had let my little brother down.

The systems in front of me started to blur. I looked up at the ceiling trying to will away the tears. I couldn't cry. I had to be strong for my younger brothers. Stay in control. Breaking down wouldn't help any of us.

"Dad!" I heard Virgil call out. I looked up to see him lowering John to the deck of the station.

Quickly blinking away tears I got to my feet. What had happened now?

I came up beside Gordon, who was hovering over Virgil, John and Dad. Dad had the emergency oxygen out and was placing the mask over John's mouth and nose.

Part of me wondered if the best think to do was just to leave him. We were all going to suffocate in a little while anyway when the oxygen ran out. Deep down though, I knew in Dad's place I'd be doing the same thing. I'd be doing everything I could to keep him alive. Knowing we were going to die and watching someone die in front of you were two different things.

"Come on, Johnny. Hold on," I whispered softly under my breath.

"John?" Virgil said, as John's eyelids fluttered.

"I'm fine," he said pushing away Dad's hand and attempting to sit up. Virgil reached out to help him as another brief alarm went off.

What now?

As I felt myself grow light, I figured out the answer to that question. The artificial gravity had just cut out.


	3. Chapter 3

hardyboysfansrock, MegzMcGizzle, Boleyn and montogma - glad your enjoying the story. Thanks for taking the time to review.

Shadow919 - wouldn't be Scott if he didn't blame himself now would it. Glad you're enjoying the story. Can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter.

criminallycharmed- thanks for reading the Virgil Story. glad you enjoyed it. I've got one person who wants me to write one like this for Jeff, John and Gordon too so I guess I have more story ideas once I'm done with this one.

Trinilee Greenleaf - I'm glad you like the story and are finding the added scenes believable. Making sure I don't contradict the movie and my previous story like this is proving to be difficult as for the POV's I prefer to write in the first person. Writing third person proves to be a challenge for me.

Kate Maxwell - guess I'm doing my job if I'm keeping you on edge even following the movies events. Thanks for taking the time to review!

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"Oww!" I cried out as something hit me in the back of the head. As I put my hand to the back of my head, I turned my head and saw a piece of metal floating by. I looked back at Gordon. He was suppose to be watching out for floating debris for me.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Guess I wasn't paying attention."

"Thanks a lot," I told him. Still rubbing the back of my head I looked back at the systems I had been working on. "This is pointless. There's no way we're getting this back on line."_ Not that it matters_, I thought to myself, _because the lack of oxygen is going to suffocate us soon. _I could already tell the air was getting stale and my chest had a heavy feeling to it.

"I told you that ten minutes ago," Virgil said from beside me. I looked over at him. He met my gaze and gave me a shrug.

I looked from Virgil to Gordon. The latter had a dazed look on his face.

"Gordon, are you okay?" I asked him. I didn't get an answer. He didn't even look at me. I reached out and grabbed his forearm. "Gordon!," I said a little louder."

"What?" he asked shaking his head a little. "Sorry, guess I dazed out."

I nodded. Evidently the thin air was starting to affect Gordon already. It had already started to affect John. Dad was once again giving him oxygen. Trying to keep him awake. Evidently, Dad was still clinging to the hope of a rescue. Myself, I had moved on to trying to accept death.

"I'll be back," I told my two brothers, handing Virgil the tool I had in my hand. I pushed off the bulkhead of the station, propelling myself toward John and Dad. When I got near them, I grabbed a hold of the console to stop my momentum. "How is he?" I asked directing my question toward Dad.

"As well as can be expected. Take it you gave up?" Dad asked nodding toward where I had.

"You could say that. Our fates are in the hands of those below," I commented, trying not to sound as if I had given up.

"There's still a chance, Scott," I heard John say softly. I looked down to see that he had moved the mask away from his mouth. Like Dad, I could see that John was still clinging to the hope that we'd get through this. He hadn't given up yet, despite his injuries. Seeing that gave me a new sense of hope.

"You got that right, Blondie," I said reaching out and gently touching his forehead, even as Dad put the mask back over his mouth. "You hang in there," I told him. John nodded.

"I should go back and check on Gordon. I think the thin air might be starting to affect him," I told my Dad, who nodded. As I turned to head back to my other two brothers Dad spoke again.

"Scott," he said waiting to continue until I had looked at him. "I'm proud of you."

I nodded. It felt good to hear those words. I pushed off the console and headed back to where the other two were still floating.

"How's John?" Gordon asked softly, as I reached them. He had a tired look to him. I knew for sure the thin air was getting to him now.

"He's hanging in, still waiting for those on the ground are going to pull through for us, which is what we all need to do," I replied. Both Gordon and Virgil nodded. I saw Gordon's eyes close momentarily. "Gordon?"

"I just feel so tired," he said. I reached out and pulled him toward me. His head resting on my chest.

"It's going to be okay," I told him, as I held him close. His body was trying to conserve what oxygen use. I knew Virgil and I would both be following him before too long.

_Come on Alan. You can do this_, I thought to myself. I kept saying the words over and over in my mind until sleep finally overtook me . . .

. . ._"We don't want him playing. He can't play," Charlie called out as John and I headed toward the ball field._

"_You either let him play or I'm going home," I called back._

"_Fine but whoever picks Scott gets John too and the other team gets to pick two people next, agreed."_

_Everyone agreed and we got the game underway. Charlie was right John really couldn't play baseball. He was scared of the ball. He ducked trying to catch it. He ducked trying to hit it. When he was up to bat he ducked. John was always an automatic out against the team when he was up. Fielding wasn't so bad as we put him out in right field where the least amount of balls went._

_Despite John's terrible playing though, my team was actually doing pretty well. I struck out three of their players in a row in the seventh inning. As my team went up to bat we were only losing by two points. We had a chance to win. Up until the point where we had bases loaded, two strikes and John up to bat. _

_I buried my head. The last thing I wanted to do was watch my brother strike out and lose the game for us._

"_Thanks a lot Scott," one of my teammates said._

"_Sorry guys," I told them knowing how disappointed they were. It was a disappointment I shared. Still, I knew I would have felt worse if I hadn't let him tag along with me today . . ._

_. . . "Scott, where have you been?" John asked, turning on the light as I walked into our bedroom. I would've figured he'd be asleep as it was two am._

"_Like its any of your business," I told him, kicking off my shoes and climbing into bed fully clothed._

"_Dad thinks your hear keeping an eye on Virgil, Gordon and Alan."_

"_Yeah, well if Dad really cared he'd be here himself," I told him._

"_Scott, I need help. I can't keep doing this alone."_

"_Then see if you can't get Dad to come home from work for more than to just sleep," I told him, turning my back to him and closing my eyes. "You mind turning out the light. I'm tired . . ._

_. . . I was sitting at the kitchen table with my Dad. Dad was quizzing me about different flying procedures. I'd be soloing shortly and he wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. Right now I was going through the steps of an emergency landing._

"_Very good," he told me as I finished. I saw him look toward the hallway. "You need something John?" he asked. John was standing in the doorway._

"_Could you start giving me flying lessons?" he asked hesitantly._

_I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. John didn't even like flying. Was scared to even be in a plane. "You do realize that you'll have to keep your eyes open in order to actually fly a plane, right." I told him._

"_Scott," Dad said with a warning tone. I put a hand over my mouth and tried to stop laughing. Tried being the operative word. "I never thought you'd be one to want flying lessons, John. You would need to get over your fear of lying before you could really start lessons though."_

"_I know. I can do it." The confidence in his voice made me stop laughing. _

"_May I ask what brought this on?"_

"_The project. I want to do more than just help design the planes and equipment. I want to be a part of it. To do that, I'm going to have to be a pilot."_

_I saw Dad nod. "Tell you what. Start coming up with me. When I feel your ready, I'll start giving you lessons."_

"_It'll probably be five years from now before he even looks out the cockpit window," I muttered under my breath. From the look Dad shot me, I had a feeling he heard me . . ._

_. . ."Not again," I said hanging my head as my teammates groaned around me. Seventh inning, bases loaded, two strikes and John was up to bat. Why did I keep insisting that he be allowed to play._

"_Thanks for the win, Scott," Charlie called out from the pitcher's mound. My old school had challenged Albright Academy to a baseball game. It was a fund-raiser to help the recovery effort. Hurricane Arlene had made landfall north of us a week ago causing quite a bit of damage and a few deaths in that area. Though we had gotten wind and rain from the storm, there was very little damage around here. Still, we wanted to do something to help out those the Hurricane had affected._

"_Come on John! You can do it!" I turned to see Virgil and the rest of my family up in the stands cheering as John walked up to the plate._

"_Well, there's a first time for everything," I said, standing up."Just keep your eye on the ball, John," I called out to him._

_The pitcher threw the ball. John swing and his bat went right under the ball. _

"_At least he didn't duck," Alex said from beside me._

"_Nice try, John. You'll get the next one," I called out, not really believing it but trying to be supportive. Our brothers and father were up in the stands doing likewise._

_Charlie threw the next pitch. He wasn't even trying to do anything fancy. He didn't think he had to and he was probably right. The pitch was right over the plate and clearly in John's strike zone. John watched the ball coming toward him. He swung the bat and for the first time in his life actually made contact with the ball. The ball went flying toward the outfield. Right over the head of the center fielder who seemed to be in shock as he hesitated going after it._

"_Run, John," Corey called out as he headed from third base to home plate. Evidently hitting the ball had surprised John too but he started toward first base following Corey's instructions. Jim and Larry followed Corey into home tying the score as John was reaching third base. The center fielder was just throwing the ball to the second baseman. _

"_Keep going!" Coach Jackson called to John. _

_I held my breath as John headed toward home plate. Their second baseman had thrown the ball to the catcher. Which would get there first? As John's foot hit the plate, the catcher caught the ball._

"_Safe," the ump called out._

_We had done it! We had won! I joined my teammates in running toward John. _

"_Nice job, Blondie!" I told him giving him a hug when I finally reached him._

"_I can't believe I actually hit the ball!"_

"_To tell you the truth, neither can I!" . . ._

_. . . "John Tracy," the headmaster called out. I watched as John stood up and headed down the risers to the front of the stage for his highschool diploma. Dad, Virgil, Gordon, Alan and Uncle Mark were in the audience clapping. From where I was, I clapped too as John approached the headmaster and accepted his diploma. _

"_Scott Tracy," the headmaster called out as John continued to the other side of the stage. I stood up and headed toward the front of the stage. My family in the audience were still clapping. I had actually done it. I had graduated high school._

_Last fall, when I had found out that John was going to be graduating with me, I hadn't liked the idea at all. John had always been a year behind me in school. It wasn't fair that I had to share this important day in my life with him not to mention I didn't want to have classes with him. I was sure I'd get teased about it and there had been some teasing. In other ways though, it had been beneficial having a study partner for tests and having someone who I felt comfortable going to for help. As we had gotten ready this morning, I realized that having someone to share this day with only made it more special. _

"_Congratulations, Scott," Headmaster Eldridge told me as I shook his hand. _

"_Thank-you," I told him. I could feel the goofy grin on my face. It didn't fade away even as I walked the rest of the way across the stage. I had done it!I never had to do schoolwork again! Our plans for our rescue operation could finally be put into action. _

_Reaching the row I had been seated in, I started down to my seat. John was waiting there, the grin on his face mirroring the one on my own. As I reached him, I threw my arms around him._

"_Congratulations," he told me as he hugged me back._

"_You too," I replied. "I never would have gotten here without you." . . ._

. . . "We are back online!"

That's John! What's going on? I tried to open my eyes. I still felt tired but I wanted to know what was going on.

"Gravity is restored. Put Thunderbird F-F– your craft into geostational orbit immediately," I heard Brains say. Brains! That meant Alan and the others had come through for us. They were back in control of the island. What did that mean in terms of the Hood? What was he up to? Was he carrying out his plans or had they already been able to stop him?

As I opened my eyes, I saw Dad and John at the main console panels. I started to push myself up off the deck. Virgil lay nearby.

"Virgil, are you okay?" I asked him.


	4. Chapter 4

hardyboyfansrock, firestorm - thanks for the feedback. Glad your enjoying the story

criminallycharmed - my thought is that Scott's wrapped up in the events right now. I plan on having him react later though its not in this chapter yet. Glad you're enjoy Rising from Tragedy. Look for an update on that story on Sunday as I'm working on chapter 13 now and plan on trying to update that story every sunday. Glad you're enjoy the both of them.

Boleyn - Glad you enjoyed the memories. They were fun to write. I plan on doing a movie P.O.V. for Jeff, John and Gordon though in what order I'm not sure. Thanks for the feedback.

KateMaxwell - I rewrote the begining of this chapter just for you. Had started it further on as the line I ended with is in this fic's sister story Longest Day which is from Virgil's point of view and for those who have read it would know what goes on after it. However, seeing as some may not have read it I explain it some. Hope you enjoy.

montogma - glad you're enjoyed the flashbacks! Guess the beginning of this chapter is also written for you as if it wasn't for your and Kate's reviews the chapter would have started further into the future. Enjoy!

Brezo-1816 - Glad you are enjoying the story. I respect you're opinion about not seeing Scott as someone who would turn his back on his family after his mom's death and appreciate the fact that you are trying to accept my point of view for the sake of this story. As for that storyline, I am exploring it in another fic entitled Rising From Tragedy. If you are interested the first chapter of that story can be found on the homepage link found in my profile. It would be in the forum called Thunderbird Movie-verse Stories. Hope you enjoy the rest of this story!

shadowwolf919 - This soon enough for you! I do have other stories going on too so I can't promise when you'll see Chapter 5 but I'll try not to leave you waiting to longs. Thanks for taking the time to review.

ladc - hey! I'm happy to see you reviewing again. I remember you reviewing my story Painful Memory and maybe a couple of other ones though I'm not sure. Glad you're enjoying this story. At some point I plan on doing one of these from John's POV so that will definitely satisfy your John fix! As for the baseball terminology - hey I did my best! I played the game in gym class and softball for a few years but it was all for fun. don't mind playing it but I can't stand watching it! glad you enjoyed it anyways! Hope to hear from you again.

* * *

"Yeah," Virgil replied as he slowly got to his feet. He looked about how I felt, worn out.

Reassured that he was going to be okay I moved to Gordon's side who wasn't stirring yet. Kneeling down next to him I put two fingers to his neck looking for a pulse and praying I would find one. The oxygen deprivation had started to affect him first. Had it come back online in time?

I let out a sigh of relief as I felt a pulse. "Gordon, its time to wake up," I told him shaking his shoulder slightly.

"I don't want to go to school, today," Gordon murmured sleepily. I grinned. Evidently Gordon had been reliving his own memories. He never had been a morning person.

"Gordon, wake up," I tried again.

I saw his eyelids start to flutter and then open. He looked around a confused look on his face. It didn't take long for him to recognized where we were at.

"What's going on?" he asked starting to push himself up off of the deck.

"Alan came through. We have control of the station again," I told him reaching out to help him to his feet. Virgil had joined us by this time.

"Let's start getting the emergency packs together, so we can get off this thing," I told them. As I moved to start doing just that I heard Alan on the link.

"Let me go after The Hood. He'll destroy everything you've built, everything the Thunderbirds stand for."

"Negative it's too risky," Dad replied.

This was one time I had to disagree with my Dad. Yes, it was risky but there was a lot at stake. Not just the reputation of the Thunderbirds either. There were innocent lives at risk. The Hood could do a lot of damage with Thunderbird 2 and the Mole and we had already seen how little regard he had for human life. He had to be stopped. Even if all Alan and his friends did was stall him even that could save lives.

I stayed quiet though. This was Dad's decision. It was one I felt I had no right to interfere with. I couldn't imagine how Dad felt right now. I know he felt responsible for all of us. I had seen the guilt on his face during this whole ordeal. The guilt on his face back on the island when we had first found out that Thunderbird 5 had been hurt.

"Okay, Alan," Dad finally conceded. "We'll meet you there. Thunderbirds are go!"

"F.A.B.!" Alan replied.

Virgil, Gordon and I had gathered everything by this time and we were all gathered around the airlock. All we needed was Dad's signal and we were ready to leave. I was sure my brother's were just as anxious as me to be off the station.

"Okay, boys, we are outta here," Dad said looking over at us.

Within minutes, the five of us were onboard Thunderbird 3 and ready to go.

"_Undocking sequence complete."_

There was no denying that I hated Thunderbird 5 the most out of all of us. I always felt so cut off from what was going on. Leaving was always the highlight of my tour of duty up here. Still, I had never been so relieved to leave the station as I was this time.

"Gordon, heat 'em up," Dad said.

Soon Thunderbird 3 was headed toward Earth. The combination of only two boosters and a faster than normal entry speed into the Earth's atmosphere was making for a bumpier than normal ride. Re-entry had never been my favorite part of a space flight and this was on my list of worst trips ever.

With an effort, I was able to look over at John in the back seat beside me. My brother's eyes were closed and I could see the pain on his face. I knew this reentry was going to be harder on him than the rest of us.

"Ride it out boys," Dad said from his center seat.

I was relieved when I felt the rocket stopped shaking. Gordon leveled the rocket out as we continued on our course for London. What was going on there?

"Brains, come in. What's the situation?"

"The Hood has caused a major disaster with the Mole. The momo-mono-mono– one-track railway is down in the Thames."

"Where's Thunderbird 1?"

"It's on the ground," Brains reported. I felt a little bit better. At least Alan hadn't managed to wreck my 'bird on his way to London. "The ki-ki-kids are in Thunderbird 2."

"F.A.B. We're right behind 'em."

I sure hoped they were ready for this. They were those people on the monorail best chance. By the time we got there, it would probably be too late. I still had my doubts as to whether Alan, Fermat and Tintin could pull this off. They had no training. Sure, Alan had been sneaking onto all the Thunderbirds for that last couple of years. Had studied the controls. Still, learning the controls and actually performing a rescue were two different things.

"Prepare for landing," Gordon announced.

"_Landing gear engaged_," the computer announced.

Thunderbird 3 came to rest gently on the ground. "_Landing complete_," the computer announced.

"Mr. Tracy," came Brains' voice over the radio.

"Go ahead, Brains," Dad said even as we all started releasing the restraints. I knew the rest of my family was just as anxious to get on the ground as I was. Being the closest to the exit, I opened the hatch. I then let Gordon go ahead of me, as I turned to check on John, who was already on his feet.

"Just thought you would like to know that Alan is now in Thunderbird 4 trying to retrieve the monorail car," Brains informed us over the radio, as I let John move past me, allowing him to exit the rocket next.

"F.A.B. , Brains," I heard Dad replied as I exited the rocket. On the ground I followed my other two brothers who were hurrying to the railing.

What was going on underneath the water? Local rescue workers had their own boats in the river. The boats were circling what must have been the area the monorail car had gone down in. Thunderbird 2 hovered over the river.

Suddenly, I saw the monorail car and Thunderbird 4 break the surface. "There they are!" I called out in relief. Alan had done it! Maybe he wasn't such a hazard to have around after all.

"He did it," Dad said beside me. Looking over at him, I saw that he had one arm around Virgil. The elation on his face, I knew mirrored my own. Things seemed to be going our way now.

Following John and Gordon, I headed for the steps that lead down to the river. It wasn't long before Alan and Tintin were coming up the steps to join us. I didn't miss the pure joy on Tintin's face or the smug look my younger brother had.

"I'm glad you could finally join us," Alan said. That was something I'd be likely to say. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, my baby brother was a lot like me.

"Don't go getting cocky after one mission. We still have a dangerous situation here," Dad said. He turned to face the rest of us one hand still across Alan's shoulders. He let his gaze drift from one of us to another. "I need you boys to close down this accident scene. Tintin, go get Fermat. Meet us at Thunderbird 1. Alan, you come with me.

As Dad and Alan headed off toward Thunderbird 1, I sent Gordon down toward the river to help with getting the victim's off the monorail car. John, Virgil and I scattered to help with crowd control. Thunderbird 2's sudden arrival in Jubilee Gardens had caused some injuries along with separating kids and parents. There were several kids standing around looking loss, some crying. Frantic parents were making their way through the crowds looking for their kids.

My third reunion found me near the river. I decided to take the time to check on things down there.

"How are things going?" I asked Gordon as he helped paramedics load someone on a stretcher into the back of an ambulance.

"Another set of hands wouldn't hurt," Gordon answered even as he turned to head back down to the monorail car, still being held on the surface by our mini-sub which was probably on autopilot.

I helped evacuate the rest of the passengers. The more seriously injured had already been taken care of. Those left had minor injuries or were simply just shaken up. I knew the London paramedics would want to check everyone out though just to be on the safe side.

Finally, all the monorail passengers were off the monorail and either in the triage area that had been set up or being seen by paramedics.

"Excuse me," a police officer asked approaching me. "Is there anyway to get the monorail car up on the river bank?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied knowing that Thunderbird 4 could easily get the monorail car up on the river back. "I'll go see to it right now," I told him, as I headed off to find Gordon.

Gordon wasn't far away and as soon as I told him what was needed he hurried off to Thunderbird 4 to see that it was done. I headed to the command post that the emergency workers had set up to see if there was anything else they needed assistance with. I found the police chief halfway there.

"One of our agents is seeing that the monorail car is put up on the bank. Is there anything else you require our assistance for?" I asked him.

"Not really, things are pretty much under control. We're looking at a few more hours of clean up but it's all routine. Your assistance has been much appreciated."

"It's the least we could do. I just regret this was caused with our equipment."

"Things happen. It's just good to know it was someone else in control of Thunderbird 2 when it first arrived. No one knew what to think at first."

"You can be sure we'll help repair the damage to the monorail car and any other damage that has been caused," I assured him. Virgil calling my name kept me from saying anything else.

I turned to see Virgil standing next to John. It was clear that Virgil was holding John up and that was just barely.

"Excuse me," I told the police chief quickly and the headed toward my two brothers.

John was pale and clearly in pain. I silently scolded myself. I had forgotten all about his injuries. He never should have been helping us. Hell, I probably should have gotten one of the paramedics to take a look at him.

"Virgil, what's going on?" I asked as I put an arm around John's waist taking some of his weight from Virgil.

"He's going into shock. We need to get him onboard Thunderbird 2," Virgil told me.

Together we headed toward the green rock. I helped Virgil lay John down across the seats and as he grabbed the emergency medical kit I went to grab a blanket from one of the storage lockers. When I came back, Virgil was taking John's pulse. "What is it?" I asked him as he finished. I held the blanket out to him.

"One hundred and ten," he said taking the blanket from me. "Scott we need to get him to a hospital."

"Dad should . . ."

"We can't wait for Dad," Virgil said interrupting me. "We've already waited too long."

I nodded, knowing he was right. "Let me go get Gordon," I told him already turning to leave Thunderbird 2.

I hurried back to the river bank. _We need some way to communicate with each other when we aren't on the Thunderbirds or have the helmets on_, I thought as I went.

Gordon was on the riverbank standing next to where Thunderbird 4 sat in the water. The monorail car was now on the bank and firefighters stood nearby trying to figure out what to do next to move it from where it was at.

"Scott, what's wrong?" Gordon asked as I joined him.

"We need to get John to the hospital. Secure Thunderbird 4. We'll pick it up later. I'll see if the police can keep a guard on it until we get back," I told him.

He nodded and disappeared on board the mini-sub. I spotted the police chief with the firefighters and hurried over to him. He assured me he would keep a security detail on site to keep an idea on the sub. Thanking him, I started back to Thunderbird 2 with Gordon right behind me.

"Dad know yet?" Gordon asked.

"No, we're going to have to inform him en route," I told him as we hurried up the ramp of Thunderbird 2. Both of us headed toward the cockpit. "You take the controls," I told Gordon. I wanted to be able to talk on the radio without the distraction of trying to fly. "We'll head for Walt Disney Memorial," I told him.

We wouldn't have to worry about security as much there. Dr. Mark Harper was a close family friend and our primary physician. He knew about International Rescue and he had a medical team of people that he trusted. I knew John would get the best care possible in his hands.

"F.A.B.," Gordon replied sitting in the pilot's seat, his hand immediately started moving over the control.

I put in a call to Dr. Harper first. I wanted to let him know we were heading his way. After that I would try to get a hold of Dad or let Brains know what was going on.

"Scott is something wrong?" Dr. Harper asked immediately as his face appeared on the screen in front of me.

"Uncle Mark, John's hurt. He's gone into shock. We're leaving London now and heading your way."

"We'll be ready," Uncle Mark replied. "Who's with him now?"

"Virgil's with him," I told him.

"Good," he replied. Uncle Mark had trained us all in first aid but had given Virgil more advanced training. "We'll be ready and waiting on this end, but Scott don't waste any time. The sooner you get him here the better."

I nodded. "We'll be pushing Thunderbird 2 as fast as she can go," I assured him.

"I'll see you when you get here then," Uncle Mark said closing the link.

"Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 1," I tried, seeing if I could get a hold of Dad first. As I expected, I got no answer. "Thunderbird 2 to base."

"Base here," Brains replied. "Wh-wh-what's going on, Scott."

"We're leaving London on Thunderbird 2. Our destination is Walt Disney Memorial. John's gone into shock and needs immediate medical attention. I haven't been able to inform Dad."

"F.A.B. Mr. Tr-Tr-Tr your father is still at the Bank of London. I will inform him of the situation as soon as possible."

"F.A.B. Brains," I replied. "Thunderbird 2 out." I closed the link. "I'll be back. I want to check on John and let Virgil know what is going on."

"F.A.B," Gordon said his eyes not moving from the controls in front of him.


	5. Chapter 5

criminallycharmed - glad you're enjoying the ride. Here's the next chapter! (and it has some Scott reaction in it just for you)

brezo-1816 - glad you're enjoying my view on what the other boys were doing while Jeff and Alan were fighting the Hood. Here's some more.

montogma - well when I get there you'll see that I kind of took my own twist on the end of the movie. Hopefully you will like what I do for the aftermath. Thanks for the review.

Boleyn - Glad you're enjoying the interactions. Thanks for the review!

Kate Maxwell - I sent you the link for Longest Day. I hope you got it. Glad you liked my take on what was going on in London. Thanks! Please keep the encouragement coming.

Cinn - Always glad to see a new name on the review board! Thanks for taking the time to respond!The flashbacks were written with another story I'm working on in mind. They could either fit into the story or I'm going to eventually work them in. Glad you enjoyed them. Please keep reading and I love feedback.

shadowwolf919 - Those Tracy's are a stubborn lot aren't they. Thanks for leaving the review!

* * *

Walt Disney Memorial Hospital had a park area behind it. The area had been set aside when the hospital was built at the request of one of the financial backers. For us, it made a convenient landing zone for Thunderbird 2. Uncle Mark knew we were coming and would have already seen to clearing the area. Still, as we approached the hospital I used the scanners to be sure the area was clear myself. The only life signs were a small group of people on the very edge of the park, which was probably Uncle Mark and his medical team.

I keyed the inter-ship comm. "Virgil, we're getting ready to land," I informed my brother.

"F.A.B," came Virgil's reply.

I turned my attention to keeping an eye on things, as Gordon prepared to land the giant green rocket. Though I didn't like the feeling of not being in control, I knew it was only logical to let Gordon continue to pilot the ship. Not to mention, he had more recent experience with actually flying Thunderbird 2 as I hadn't even been on board it in awhile.

I let out a sigh of relief as the rocket softly settled on the ground. I was relieved to finally be here. To finally be able to get John the medical attention he needed. I immediately hit the button to open the hatch and lower the ramp to give Uncle Mark and his team access to the ship.

"You have things under control here?" I asked Gordon.

"Yeah, go," he said nodded toward the back of the rocket.

Leaving Gordon in the cockpit, I headed to the back of the rocket. Uncle Mark was at Jon's side examining him. Virgil was standing off to the side out of the way, giving Uncle Mark information on John's condition. Silently, I walked up to stand behind my younger brother. As the rest of the medical personnel came up the ramp of Thunderbird 2, Uncle Mark started giving them orders. Once again, I found myself with nothing to do but watch.

"Dad just called. The Hood's been arrested and he and the others are on their way here," Gordon said coming out of the cockpit.

"Everyone okay?" I asked, without looking back at him. My eyes were still watching the medical team as they transferred John onto the gurney.

"Yeah," Gordon replied.

I glance over at Virgil. He had a vacant look on his face. I put my arm around his shoulders. "Virgil, you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. He wasn't convincing me though. I was starting to get worried about Virgil too. Was he just worried about John or was it something else? I knew I had to keep my eye on him.

Keeping my arm around his shoulders, I lead him off of Thunderbird 2 as the medical team headed down the ramp and toward the hospital. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Gordon securing the ship.

We followed the medical team into the hospital. As they disappeared through double doors, Uncle Mark broke away from them and came over to us.

"I'll let you know as soon as we have him stabilized," Uncle Mark told us as he led us to a small private waiting room. "We're going to do everything we can for him."

Those last words had me worried. I knew John's condition was serious by the fact that Uncle Mark wasn't giving us any real information. Not to mention I could hear worry in voice.

"Virgil are you okay?" Uncle Mark asked as he looked from me to my brother next to me. I looked over at Virgil myself. Even though Virgil nodded, the vacant expression had left his face. "Sit down," Uncle Mark instructed him even as he took a hold of Virgil's arm and led him to a nearby chair.

I stood and watched. As Uncle Mark started to examine him, the vacant look left his face. Virgil had seemed to come out of the daze he had been in. Still, I was waiting for Uncle Mark to say he was going to be okay.

Uncle Mark finally looked up at me. "Keep an eye on him. If he dazes out like that again have someone come get me."

"Okay," I said nodding as Uncle Mark stood up and left. I watched as he disappeared through the double doors.

_And once again, I'm left with nothing to do but wait_, I thought to myself as I sank down in the chair next to Virgil. Gordon stood just inside the doorway, leaning against the wall. _Please John! You've got to pull through. After everything we've been through today, we can't lose you now_. Those thoughts were the closest I had gotten to saying a prayer in quite a long time.

With nothing else to occupy myself, I finally had time to think about what had happened today. Realized just how close we had all come to dying today. I leaned forward and resting my elbows on my knees, let my head rest in my hands. Suddenly I was just grateful that we had all made it this far. That my father, brothers and myself hadn't drawn our last breath onboard the station. That the Hood hadn't killed any one on the island. I had always realized the dangers of what we did and accepted them. Still, I had never figured on someone trying to kill us.

We did our best every time we went out. Saved everyone that we could. The cold hard truth was that we couldn't save everyone. I knew the truth in those words that my father had drilled into us since the beginning. It didn't mean I didn't grieve for those we had lost.

For the first time in quite awhile, I felt like crying. Taking a deep breath though I tried to squash that feeling. I couldn't indulge in the luxury of shedding a few tears. Like it or not, I was the oldest. I had two brothers in the room that I had to be strong for.

Wiping away the few tears that had rolled down onto my cheeks, I looked up. After all, I was suppose to be keeping an eye on Virgil. Virgil hadn't moved. He was still sitting in the chair next to me staring straight ahead. Gordon had decided that the wall could hold its self up and had retreated to another chair. His head was resting against the wall behind him and his eyes were closed.

Gordon looked tired, but other than that appeared to be doing fairly well. I could see the worry on his face though. None of us were going to rest easy until we knew that John was going to pull through.

"_I'm losing all power! Repeat - I'm losing all power!"_

Those words kept playing through my head. It seemed like they had been said ages ago. At the time we were under the assumption that a meteor had hit the station. Everything would have been so much simpler if that had been the case. John would have had the medical attention he needed in a timely manner instead of almost facing death a second time on board the station and then pushing through the injuries we had all forgotten about to help out in London.

_If he doesn't pull through, it'll be our fault_, I thought mournfully. _Stop it! Don't think like that_, I scolded myself. _John's strong. He's going to pull through. He's a Tracy_.

I sensed movement beside me. Virgil had stood up. I watched him closely as he walked over toward the one window in the waiting room. Even as he stood there, gazing at the sun setting outside, I kept a close eye on him. I had let one brother down today. I wasn't about to let another one down.

The sound of approaching footsteps finally made me look away. I looked toward the doorway, hoping to see Uncle Mark walking into the room. Instead, I saw my Dad. Alan, Fermat and Tintin followed wearily behind him. The excitement of their adventure had evidently worn off.

"Any word yet Scott?" Dad asked as I stood up and walked toward the door to meet him partway.

"No Dad, nothing," I told him. I reached him and lowered my voice so the others wouldn't over hear. "Virgil kind of spaced out on us when we got here. Uncle Mark looked at him and told me to keep an eye,"

"I'm fine now, so you can stop whispering," Virgil said, making us both look in his direction. He hadn't moved from the window.

Dad stepped around me and headed toward Virgil. "Are you sure? We've all been through a lot today."

"I'm fine Dad, really. I just spaced out for a little while. I'm just really worried about John."

"We all are," Dad told him, as he pulled Virgil into a hug. I just watched as he held Virgil close for a little while, part of me wishing it was me that Dad was hugging. Gordon got up from his chair and made his way toward me. "Okay," Dad said ending the hug but keeping an arm across Virgil's shoulders. He looked directly at me. "Scott, I want you and your brothers to take Alan and the other two home. I'll stay here and wait for word on john. There is no need for all of us to be hanging around here."

The last thing I wanted to do was leave.

"I want to stay," Virgil said, saying what I was feeling. I saw him look from Dad to me. His face mirrored what I was feeling inside.

"It's been a long day, Virgil," Dad said looking at Virgil. "I really think you should just go home. I'll call as soon as I know anything."

I could hear the weariness in my father's voice. Like I had been doing for my brothers, Dad was trying to stay strong for us. I knew now wasn't the time to argue with him. Not to mention the kids looked like they were about to fall asleep in the chairs they were sitting in. They definitely needed to be back at home not here in uncomfortable waiting room chairs.

"Okay, Dad," I said using the tone I used out in the field when I was in charge.

"I promise, Virgil, the second I hear anything I'll call. You'll all be more comfortable waiting for news at home."

I finally saw Virgil nod.

"Come on you three," I said to Alan, Fermat and Tintin. Silently the three of them stood up. I led the quiet group out of the hospital and out to Thunderbird 2.

Coming outside, I saw that Thunderbird 1 was now sitting next to Thunderbird 2. Reaching the green rocket, I punched in the access code. The ramp lowered. I stood aside and let the others go on board ahead of me. Part of me wanting to make sure that nobody tried to stay behind. I followed Virgil and Gordon up the ramp.

Alan, Fermat and Tintin had all founds seats in the back while Virgil and Gordon headed up to the cockpit. As I followed them, I prepared myself for an argument. There was no way I was going to let Virgil fly this thing home in the condition he was in. To my relief though, Virgil took one of the side seats. Gordon sat down in the co-pilots seat leaving me with the pilot's chair.

Sitting down, I quickly glanced over the controls, familiarizing myself with them, part of me wishing I was in the familiar cockpit of Thunderbird 1.

"You do remember how to fly this thing right?" Gordon asked. I shot a look at him to find a small smirk on his face.

"Yes I remember how to fly this giant green tank," I told him. I expected Virgil to say something about me calling his rocket a tank. When he didn't, I glanced back at him. He didn't even appear to be paying attention to us.

"Just checking," Gordon told me.

I hadn't seen anyone outside on our walk out to the ship, but I wanted to be sure before I fired up the engine.

"Are we clear?

Gordon checked the scanners. "Yeah, we're clear. No one's even in the park."

I nodded, as I fired up Thunderbird 2's vertical lift thrusters and the anti-gravity engine for lift off. Once in the air, I fired up the main engines and pointed the craft toward Tracy Island.

"Thunderbird 2 to Tracy Island."

"Tracy Island here," came Brains reply.

"We're bringing the kids home. Dad's staying at the hospital to wait for word on John."

"F.A.B, we'll be ex-ex-ex waiting for your arrival."

No one was talking. I would've thought I would be use to the quiet as I usually made the flight home alone in Thunderbird 1. It seemed unnatural tonight though. However, I didn't know what to say to break the silence or to start a conversation.

Brains, Kryano and Onaha met us down in Thunderbird 2's silo when we arrived. Fermat and Tintin both ran to their parents who held them close. Suddenly part of me wished I was a kid again and I could just take comfort in my parents arm.

I put my arm across Alan's shoulder and pulled him close. My brother leaned against me.

"Let's head upstairs," I told my brothers. As the four of us headed toward the elevator, the other's followed us.

The downstairs of the house was a mess. Things were broken. The front glass wall had been shattered. Most of the glass still laid on the floor. Though the couches and armchairs in the living room had been righted, some of the other furniture was overturned.

"I started to clean up, but as you can see I didn't get to far," Onaha said, almost apologetically.

"It's not a problem," I assured her. I was start to get the feeling that they hadn't had any easier of a time down here. Why we were trapped on the station, it looked like our friends had been putting up a pretty good fight for the island.

"I did vacuum the couches and the chairs and the floor around them, so they're free of glass," Onaha said.

"Then I suggest we all sit down before we collapse," I said knowing they were all as tired as I felt.

"Perhaps we should start cleaning up this place," Virgil said looking around as the rest of us started finding seats.

"I'm way too tired to even think about cleaning tonight," Gordon said as he collapsed on the green couch.

"The clean-up will wait," I said as I sat down on the orange couch. "Come sit down," I told him indicating the empty spot on the couch between Alan and myself. Virgil silently sat down beside me.

Fermat and Brains were sitting on the couch with Gordon. Brains had his arm around his son and Fermat looked like he was ready to fall asleep as he rested his head on his father's shoulder. Onaha had sat down in one of the armchairs, Tintin in her lap. Kryano was perched on the arm of the chair, his arm around his wife's shoulders.

Now if only Dad would call with some good news. How was John doing?


	6. Chapter 6

criminallycharmed, Boleyn, Cinn, RVFan, bluesweetie1978, brezo-1918 - thanks for taking the time to review. Means a lot

KateMaxwell - yes, looks like I left TB3 in London with 4. Thanks for reminding me I had to deal with that issue.

montogma - glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I'll warn you right now, I never cared for the ending of the movie - John in the pool the evening of or next evening just didn't seem right. As I set it up in Longest day that occurs a little in the future. Think the chapter after this one will wrap this story line up. Hope you enjoy!

Trinilee Greenlear - thanks for giving the story a chance even though it is POV. I enjoy writing POV better than third person myself. Glad your finding the reactions believable. Happy Reading!

* * *

The room was absolutely silent. No one was talking. I knew where everybody's thoughts were though. Like me they were with John back in Florida. Dad still hadn't called. I just hoped that when he finally did call it wasn't with bad news. 

I jumped when my cell phone rang. It echoed it the silent room. Fishing it out of my pocket I answered it without bothering to look at who it was. I already knew it would be my father.

"Dad, how is he?" I asked.

"He's stable," Dad told me, the relief evident in his voice. I let out a sigh of relief myself. That was the best news I had gotten all day. "Mark wants to keep him under observation for a few hours, but we should be heading home after that."

"We'll be here," I told him.

"Scott, keep an eye on things there for me," Dad told me.

"I will Dad," I reassured him. "Dad, Thunderbird 3 and 4 are still in London. I know we probably should have went back before coming home but it slipped my mind."

"Don't worry about it Scott. The Mole is still inside the London bank. We'll go back for them tomorrow."

"Safe flight," I told him and then ended the phone call.

"John?" Virgil was the first to ask.

"He's stable. Dad said Uncle Mark is keeping him under observation for a few hours and then they'll be heading home."

I could see the relief on all their faces, and I knew exactly how they felt. I saw Alan yawn.

"I think its time for someone to head off to bed," I commented.

"I want to wait for . . ."

"No. Off to bed. We've all got another long day ahead of us tomorrow," I told him cutting off his argument.

I was ready for more of a fight, but when Brains and Kryano followed suit with sending their two off to bed, Alan gave in. The three kids headed up stairs off to bed. As they disappeared I tried to stifle a yawn myself. As much as I wanted to wait up for Dad and John to get home myself, somehow I didn't see me making it .

"I think I'm going to go take a shower," I commented to no one in particular. I had a sudden urge to want to get out of the room. To have some time to myself.

I headed upstairs and headed for my bedroom. Stripping off my IR uniform and clothes underneath it, I turned the water on. Getting the stream of water warm, I stepped into the shower. The warm water over my body felt good. I couldn't help but think how nice it would be if what we had just gone through could be washed away as simply as the soot and dirt on my body was being washed away.

I took my time taking a shower. By the time I got back downstairs Brains, Kryano and Onaha, had retired to. Gordon and Virgil were both sitting where I had left them. I thought about trying to shoo them off to bed like I had Alan, but I didn't think I'd get too far. Even Gordon was now eighteen and had pointed out on numerous occasions that he wasn't a kid anymore and he didn't have to listen to me when we were at home.

I sat down on one of the couches without saying a word.. . .

* * *

. . . A low moan brought me out of my thoughts. I looked to my brother to see him trying to opening his eyes. I leaned forward in the chair and looked down at him.

"Hey, John, " I said, as he opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Where's Dad?" he asked.

"He went to go get some sleep. Some of us have work to do tomorrow."

"Yeah, well believe me, I'd change places with you in a heart beat and before you as, my names John and we're on Tracy Island."

I smiled. Evidently John was getting sick of those questions. I took it as a good sign though. A sign that given time he was going to be okay.

"That's good to hear. I wouldn't want you to forget about that forty dollars you owe me."

"I don't owe you any money," he told me, sleepily. "You're the one always borrowing money off of me."

"Can't blame a guy for trying," I told him even as he drifted back off to sleep.

Once again I felt a pang of guilt. I hated seeing my brother suffer like this. I wished I could take away his pain. Make things better. I knew there wasn't anything I could do though except be there for him during the long recovery period he was facing.

I looked toward the window. The sun was starting to peek out above the horizon. It was a beautiful sight. Given the events of yesterday, I appreciated it more than I ever had before. It was the dawning of a new day. A time to start over. Move on. The fact that we got to do that together, was the greatest gift I could have hoped for.

* * *

"How is he?" I looked up to see Gordon standing in the doorway. His hair was standing up in every direction and he didn't look quite awake yet. More than likely he had rushed upstairs as soon as he woke up on the couch.

"Resting. He's been drifting in an out. How are you feeling?" I asked him, looking at my little brother closely.

"Numb," he replied stepping inside the room. I had a feeling he wanted to say more but wasn't sure how to put it to words. I definitely knew that feeling.

"When you're ready to talk, I'm here," I told him.

"Now you sound like Dad," Gordon told me. "I'll sit with him awhile if you want to take a break."

I nodded. I didn't really want to leave John's side, but I also knew Gordon probably wanted some time alone with him. I nodded and left the room, Gordon sitting down in the chair as soon as I had vacated it.

I headed downstairs. The light of the new day, didn't make the downstairs look any better. As I look at the mess that was the livingroom, I started dreaded the next few days. This ordeal wasn't over. As bad as the house was, Thunderbird 5 was even worse. I was not looking forward to going back up there but it had to be done. We had come to rely on the station too much not to get it back online. The question was, were any of us ready to go back up there?

"This looks to be the worse of it," Dad commented coming in from outside. "Well at least down here anyway."

Evidently he was thinking about the station himself.

"Onaha's getting breakfast ready. After the three of you eat, I'd like you to take Gordon and Virgil and pick up Thunderbird 3 and 4 in London. No need to make the London cops have to do guard duty on them any longer than necessary."

"I nodded. Speaking of the bank, what kind of damage was done."

"Its pretty bad. I'm going to anonymously give the city the money they need to get crews in there to repair it as well as for fixing the monorail. I'd offer assistance with the actually repairing process but giving our own repairs . . ."

"When are we going to get started on the station?"

"I think I'll wait a couple of days. Get things squared away down here and discuss with Brains a game plan on repairs up there."

I nodded.

"Breakfast is ready," Onaha said from the doorway of the kitchen. "Help yourself to it. The kids are already in there. I'll go get the others from upstairs."

"No need to Onaha," Dad told her. "I'll eat later . . ."

"Eat now," she told him softly. "I'll go sit with John."

Dad nodded. Though soft spoken, Onaha had a stubborn streak. It was usually easier not to argue with her. Dad put his arm across my shoulders and we headed into the kitchen.

* * *

"Thunderbird 4 is onboard and secured," Gordon reported back via the intercom.

We had picked the Mole up first. Extracting it from the bank without causing more damage had been an interesting task. Seeing the state the bank was in made me realize that what the Hood had done went beyond just physical damage. The danger our vehicles posed in the wrong hand had now been made vividly clear. Only time would tell how the public would react to what had happened. Would they still want us out there or would they see us as too much of a danger?

"FAB," I told him. "We'll land Thunderbird 2 and then you and I will board Thunderbird 3 and fly her back."

"Understood," Gordon replied.

I glanced over at Virgil and nodded. Without a word, Virgil brought Thunderbird 2 to a safe landing next to the space shuttle.

"You're going to be okay flying this thing back on your own?" I asked, wondering if I shouldn't send him with Gordon. I was starting to wish I had dragged one of the kids along for the ride.

"I'll be fine. I could fly this thing in my sleep. I'll see you back home."

"Okay," I said resting my hand on his shoulder. "If the trip gets to quiet, don't hesitate to use the radio."

"I'll be fine. If you want to be a mother hen, go see if Gordon will put up with it," Virgil told me lightly.

"I am not a mother hen," I told him even as I headed off the cockpit of Thunderbird 2, mildly annoyed. I hated when my brothers started calling me that. I was just trying to look out for them some.

It wasn't long before Gordon and I had Thunderbird 3 in the air. Virgil was ahead of us. With one booster out, we didn't want to push Thunderbird 3. We had enough repairs as it was.

"Scott, do you think John will want to go back up to Thunderbird 5. I mean after what happened, even if more security precautions are taken, I don't think I'm going to have an easy time going back up there."

"I know what you mean, Gordo," Scott said. "I'm not exactly looking forward to it myself. As for John, I don't know. He's strong, probably stronger than we give him credit for, but its likely he might not want to go back up and I know Dad won't force him too. We'll just have to wait and see."

"I never thought of us as being targets before. I always thought Dad was being ridiculous with all these security measures. That they just made things harder for us. Now I see how necessary they are."

"Don't go judging the whole world because of what the Hood did. Most people are just thankful we're there to help when they need us. There are a lot of good people out there. People who need our help and our protection from people like the Hood."

"I still think I'll be looking over my shoulder a bit more when we're out in the field."

"I think we all will for awhile," I told him.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Yes folks, this is the last chapter. I have requests for me to do the other guys too so I probably will but I'm not giving a time frame as I have other stories in the works. I'm just curious any requests for who you want to hear from next - John, Jeff, or Gordon?

criminally charmed - I know this isn't what you had in mind when you said 'update soon' but this chapter gave me issues. It's finally done though and with it this story. Decided to skip the end scene altogether this time around. Hope you have enjoyed the story!

Digi -girl101 - Hope you like the ending! Thanks for the reviews!

Boleyn - I'm glad you liked my interactions I had. Hopefully this chapter is just as good. Thanks for the support !

Kate Maxwell - yeah, sorry about the paragraph dividers. Hoepfully I don't copy that mistake in this one :) Its been fun writing this story and reading your reactions. Hope you'll let me know how you liked the story now that its complete!

Trinilee Greenleaf - Thanks for taking the time to review and for being patient for this update. I hope you've enjoyed the journey.

bluesweetie1978 - glad you like the story! thanks for reviewing!

brezo-1816 - may have taken you awhile to review, but hey you beat my update! Glad you liked how I 'filled the gaps'. Thanks for your support!

* * *

"How did the trip go, Dad?" I asked as Dad and Brains came off of Thunderbird 3. I had been waiting outside of the silo ever since they had undocked the shuttle from Thunderbird 5.

This was the second day that Brains and Dad had made the trip up there. Three days since the station had been attacked. I was ready to go back up. To face what had almost become my tomb. I knew that the longer I put it off the harder it would be to go back. Convincing Dad of that was proving to be the problem. I think he was trying to protect my brothers and me by not letting us go back up.

"Well," Dad replied. "Brains and I have the environmental systems up and running like they should be. The air should be completely clean by tomorrow. Now the clean up begins. We'll worry about the other systems after that. How's John?"

"Doing well. Uncle Mark's with him right now and John's insisting that he be let out of bed."

"Can't wait to see who wins that battle?" Dad commented. "The glass wall that was shattered?"

"Safely delivered and installed," I told him. While Dad and Brains had been aboard Thunderbird 5, Dad had put me in charge of the repairs to the house. The glass wall that had been shattered had been the last step of getting our home back together. "You wouldn't even know the Hood had been here."

"I'll feel better when the station's back up and running and your brother is well," Dad told me.

I nodded. I knew how he felt.

"Are you going up again tomorrow?" I asked as we made our way up out of the silo. I was tying to just sound curious. What I really wanted was a chance to convince him to let me go with him.

Brains had already headed off to his workshop. He was busy updating the defensive systems of Thunderbird 5. We had been foolish enough to believe that the station was well enough hidden that it wouldn't become a target. It was a mistake Dad had sworn he wasn't going to make again.

"Yes. I have a feeling there will be quite a few trips up to Thunderbird 5 for . . ."

I followed Dad's gaze to see what had made him trail off. We had made it to the main floor of the house. John, leaning on Uncle Mark for support, was slowly making his way down the main stairs.

"John?" Dad said, obviously concerned.

"I needed a change of scenery. I convinced Uncle Mark I can rest just as well on the couch as I can in my bed," John said. He was still pale. His arm was still in the sling and his hands bandaged. I could tell he was in pain by the stiffness in his movements.

"Yeah, and you better stay on the couch," Mark told him as the two reached the bottom of the steps. "Scott, help your brother," he said looking toward me. "I want a word with your father."

I nodded as Uncle Mark slipped his arm from around John's waist and I took his place. Letting John set the pace, the two of us headed toward the living room.

"You just have to be stubborn don't you," I said to him as Dad and Uncle Mark headed toward the den.

"You're one to talk," John replied.

"What do you suppose Uncle Mark wanted to talk to Dad about?" I asked him. When he didn't respond right away, I looked over at him. "You know, don't you?"

"Yeah. I asked him to talk to Dad about me going up to Thunderbird 5 before the clean up begins."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" I asked him. I was surprised to hear John say he even wanted to go back up to the station.

I wasn't sure how I felt about John going back up to the station when he hadn't recovered fully. He'd been through more than the rest of us. I had thought I was going to lose him so many times already. All I wanted to do was protect him from anything I could.

"I need to see it," John told me as I helped him sit on the couch. "Before it's repaired I need to see what it looks like. Face it. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to completely put what happened behind me if I don't."

I knew how he was feeling. It was the same feeling I had about it myself. I also knew it was going to take quite a bit to get Dad to go for the idea. He was hesitant to let even Gordon, Virgil and myself up there.

"What does Uncle Mark think?"

"He agrees with me that I should go up and see the station before it's cleaned up. Not so sure he's completely sure I'm up for it right now," John told me. I could hear a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"They're only looking out for you," I told him reaching out and letting my hand rest on his good arm.

"I know," he told me softly.

Before either one of us could say anything though both Gordon and Alan came running by. We could hear their feet pounding up the steps even as we saw Virgil run by. A very colorful Virgil I might ad.

"I think you better go see what's going on," John said nodding toward where our brother's had disappeared. I didn't miss the longing in his voice. John had always been the peacemaker of the family. This time though he couldn't.

"Don't worry. I'll handle it," I told him, trying to sound more confident then I felt. I didn't exactly have the best track record with peace making.

I headed up the steps. I found Virgil upstairs outside of Gordon's room. "You two can't stay in there forever," Virgil called to them.

"Yeah, and you can't stand out there forever either," Gordon challenged through the door.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Look at me. Those two filled water guns with dyed water and ambushed me on my way back up to the house."

I was trying hard not to laugh. Virgil was quite a sight. His shirt and exposed skin had streaks of color on them. I saw red, blue, green, and yellow. Both Alan and Gordon must have had two water guns a piece.

"We were practicing tie dye techniques," Alan called out.

"Yeah, well next time practice on a shirt I'm not wearing," Virgil retorted. I could hear laughter coming from inside the room.

"Why don't you go clean up before any of this gets on the rug?" I told Virgil. With any luck the shower would cool him off.

He shot me a look but trudged off toward his own room. I turned to the door. "Okay, you two open up. It's just me out here."

"How mad are you?" Alan asked.

"You don't open this door, I'm going to be even madder," I replied. "Not to mention, I'll go get Dad and let him deal with you two."

The door opened. Gordon was standing just inside the door while Alan had retreated to the bed. I stepped inside, still trying hard to keep a straight face. As funny as I thought it was, I knew Virgil was upset about what had happened. I owed it to him to try and make these two see that not everyone shared their sense of humor. It wasn't the first big brother lecture I had given and it probably wouldn't be the last either.

_Two Days Later:_

"Approaching Thunderbird 5," I announced, even though it was quite obvious. The station was getting bigger as we got closer to it. _The damage from outside doesn't look that bad compared to the damage inside_, I thought to myself.

Gordon was beside me in the pilot's seat. He'd been quiet this morning. I got the impression back in Dad's office that he had been hoping Dad would ask him to stay behind. Instead, that had fallen on Virgil, who had not been happy about the decision. He had only stopped protesting when Dad had assured him he could come up in the afternoon when we came back up.

We weren't planning on doing any work on this trip to the station. This trip was solely, for the purpose of letting John see the station before the clean up began. Uncle Mark was with us, wanting to be on hand 'just in case'. They were in the back two seats, with Dad assuming his usual center seat.

"Prepare for docking," Gordon said a few moments later.

Other than keep an eye on things, there wasn't much for me to do, most of the docking procedures falling to Gordon. He easily docked the shuttle with the station. This docking didn't have the urgency the last one I had been on, had but I was still nervous. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face this or not. However, as uneasy about this as I was, I knew John was even more uneasy. After all, he had faced the initial attack on the station. That was something, none of the rest of us had to go through.

I took a deep calming breath, as I lifted the restraint up. Suddenly I wasn't so anxious to see the inside of the station. Still, like John had said a couple of days ago, this was something that I needed to face. The longer its put off, the harder it was going to be.

I stood up. Dad was already at the hatch to the airlock. Uncle Mark had helped John to his feet. Once again, I wondered if my brother was really up for this or if it was just too soon. I knew at this point I could only hope for the best.

The hatch opened and Dad walked onto the station, followed by Uncle Mark and John. I let Gordon go in front of me, partially to keep an eye on him and also so I could be behind everyone else. If I was behind everyone else, I wouldn't have as many eyes on me.

We slowly made our way through the airlock and onto Thunderbird 5. The air was much cleaner now. There wasn't the smoke and gases in the air from the fires from before. The evidence of them was still there though. Soot and debris still covered much of the command deck. Wires were exposed. The only place that looked any different was the main console which Brains and Dad had cleaned and fixed up in order to get the environmental systems back online.

_Man, do we have a lot of work ahead of us_, I thought as I looked around. I mentally started going through the steps of the clean up process. First the debris would need to be taken off and the soot scrubbed off. After that, the repairing and reconstruction process of those things that had been damaged could be started. It looked as if we were going to be without Thunderbird 5 for quite awhile. We had weeks of work ahead of us even without any calls coming in.

"John," I heard Dad say. I looked toward him and John. John seemed to have a far away look on his face. I took a few steps toward them, moving so I was standing next to Gordon. All of us were looking toward John.

"I'm fine," John said, taking a few steps forward on his own. What was going through his head?

I noticed Dad looking toward Uncle Mark. Uncertainty was clearly written all over Dad's face. From where I stood, I couldn't read Uncle Mark's face but I saw him nod slightly.

My eyes drifted back to John. He had slowly made his way toward the main console and he sank down in the chair, which had survived the whole ordeal relatively unscathed. Was this station worth putting one of us at risk for? Maybe it shouldn't be repaired?

_I can't believe how close I came to losing him this time_, I thought, as I watched him run a hand over the console. _We all came close to not making it through this one. I suddenly understood the worry on my father's face when we were out on a rescue. Realized just how dangerous this all was. Yeah sure I knew what we did was risky. Hell, there had even been a few close calls before. A few injuries. Nothing major though. Nothing that would have prepared us for this._

_And this time it wasn't just an accident or mother nature. This wasn't a rescue gone wrong. This had been a direct attack against us. Someone out for revenge because he felt we had left him behind. We hadn't done so intentionally. I knew we all gave one hundred and ten percent every time we went out there. Did our best to save everyone. That wasn't always possible though. I may have felt in danger before, but this was the first time I had ever felt like a target._

_Maybe that was what was really bothering me. The fact that the Hood had intentionally attacked the station. Had lured us up here with the intention of killing us._

_Well he had failed. We had proved we were stronger than I. Had not only managed to get off the station but put him behind bars where he belonged. The Hood may have been out for revenge but he had done something else instead. He had proven to me just how important International Rescue was and not only in our primary mission of rescuing people from natural disasters. The Hood had shown me that International Rescue put as in the position to protect the innocent from people like him._

I looked over at Gordon. "You okay?" I asked him.

He nodded. "It's a little weird to think this is where I almost died," he commented, looking around. "The station doesn't seem quite so safe anymore," he said as he looked back at me.

"I know what you mean," I told him. "We definitely need to work on the station's defenses."

"We will," Dad said. I looked toward him, not aware he had been able to overhear me. "Brains has some ideas for added computer security. We're also going to equip Thunderbird 5 with missiles . . ._"_

"I don't want this place turned into some military outpost," John said from where he was sitting.

Dad rested his hand on John's good shoulder and looked down at him. "Purely defensive," Dad told him. "If someone takes a shot at this station again, I don't want whoever is up here to be a sitting duck."

John nodded. From the way he had talked I knew then that John would be back up here when he had healed. Knowing that made my decision easy. If John could come back up here after what he had been through, then I could to.

It might take awhile but Thunderbird 5 would go back online. The Hood may have wounded us but by sticking together we'd come through this stronger and more prepared for whatever was thrown are way.

"Thunderbirds, are go," I whispered softly.


End file.
